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Tag: rates

  • Are New York electricity prices above the national average?

    Amid steep national price increases for certain consumer items, New York Republican state Sen. Tom O’Mara criticized the high cost of living in his state.

    In a column published in the Wellsville Sun on Jan. 20, O’Mara blamed Democrats in Albany for making New York “an increasingly expensive state in which to live, work, raise a family, or run a business.” 

    Republicans in the legislature, including O’Mara, have launched a “Save New York” campaign to tackle the cost of living, including electricity rates. 

    O’Mara is backing a bill that would return $2 billion to $3 billion in unspent money to taxpayers. The money would come from the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority, which is tasked with promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy and emissions reduction.

    In the column, O’Mara said such efforts are important because “New Yorkers pay 49% more than the national average for electricity.” 

    Federal data supports O’Mara’s statistic, though the percentage varies by the type of customer, and New York’s rates are lower than most New England states.

    How much higher are electricity costs in New York state?

    O’Mara — whose district includes portions of central New York state and the southern tier, including Corning and Elmira — responded to our inquiry with a post to an Empire Center for Public Policy article warning about the rising prices of electricity in New York. 

    According to the article, “In October 2025, the average residential electricity price in New York hit 26.95 cents per kilowatt-hour — about 50 percent higher than the U.S. average and among the top ten highest rates nationwide.”

    This aligns with slightly more recent data collected by the federal Energy Information Administration.

    In November 2025, the federal agency found, residential users in New York state paid average electricity prices of 26.49 cents per kilowatt hour in November 2025. The national rate that month was 17.78 cents per kilowatt hour, so New York state’s rate was exactly 49% higher than the national average.

    The premium paid by commercial users in New York state was similar to what residential users paid — 50% above the national average. 

    Two other categories of users — industrial and transportation — were closer to the national average, but still above it. Industrial users, which include major plants with a dedicated electricity supply, paid 6% more than the national average, while transportation users, such as rail, paid 15% more.

    New York compared favorably with some of its regional neighbors. 

    Among New England states, residential customers in Massachusetts paid 31.22 cents per kilowatt hour, Rhode Island residents paid 30.82, Maine residents paid 27.85, New Hampshire residents paid 27.37, and Connecticut residents paid 27.02 for residential.  The only New England state that was less expensive than New York was Vermont, where residential customers paid 24.17 cents per kilowatt hour.

    Two states in the mid-Atlantic region — New Jersey and Pennsylvania — had lower prices than New York, with 22.73 cents and 20.17 cents, respectively.

    Severin Borenstein, a University of California-Berkeley public policy and business administration professor, cautioned that the averages mask variations among people and locations.

    “New York has many different utilities and rates, so some people pay even more than that differential and others pay less,” Borenstein said.

    Our ruling

    O’Mara said, “New Yorkers pay 49% more than the national average for electricity.”

    Federal data from November 2025 shows that this is correct for residential and commercial users. Costs for industrial and transportation users were also above the national average, but not as dramatically.

    While O’Mara blamed New York’s Democrats for the high electricity prices, New York’s electricity costs are below those of most New England states, although they are higher than two mid-Atlantic states, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

    The statement is accurate but needs additional information, so we rate it Mostly True.

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  • US Births Dropped Last Year, Suggesting The 2024 Uptick Was Short-Lived – KXL

    FILE – The toes of a baby peek out of a blanket at a hospital in McAllen, Texas. On Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the increase of U.S. infant mortality rate to 3% in 2022 — a rare increase in a death statistic that has been generally been falling for decades. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

    NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. births slightly decreased in 2025.

    That’s according to new provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    It reports just over 3.6 million births, about 24,000 fewer than in 2024.

    This decline aligns with expert predictions that the 2024 increase wouldn’t start an upward trend.

    The CDC updated its data last week, covering nearly all of the babies born in 2025.

    Final numbers may add only a few thousand more.

    Despite efforts to encourage births, like expanding in vitro fertilization access, the fertility rate has been declining.

    Economic conditions and uncertainty continue to impact childbearing decisions.

    More about:

    Grant McHill

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  • Five things to know about the Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies

    The cost of health insurance is set to surge for millions of Americans under the Affordable Care Act at the start of the new year without the extension of expanded tax credits.The expanded subsidies were at the center of the 42-day government shutdown that ended in November. Now just days away from the new year, premiums are set to increase without an extension or resolution from Congress.The Get the Facts Data Team analyzed and aggregated statistics to know ahead of the rise in premiums in the new year.Premiums could rise on average 114%Premiums would more than double if the tax subsidies were to expire, according to an analysis from KFF. In addition to the potential ending of the subsidies, insurance rates are projected to rise across marketplace plans and employer-provided insurance.A one-person household with an annual income of $25,000 – a little more than 1.5 times the federal poverty level – is estimated to go from paying a maximum $100 out of pocket annually to $1,168.They would pay a maximum of less than $98 a month — 10 times more than the previous payment of less than $9 a month.The interactive below shows how the maximum out-of-pocket rates for benchmark plans may change if expanded subsidies expire for one, two and four-person households at various incomes. Estimates were calculated using maximum out-of-pocket rates from KFF published by the IRS, along with 2025 federal poverty level data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the 48 contiguous states plus D.C.The tool is not intended to calculate an individual’s actual payments. Healthcare.gov and other state marketplaces are the best source for specific premium costs.People closer to retirement age or with higher incomes could see the largest impactOnce the expanded tax credits expire at the end of this year, the out-of-pocket maximums will increase across the board, and people making above four times the poverty level will become ineligible for any tax credits.More than 6.7% of those who were enrolled in ACA plans earned more than 400% of the federal poverty level, accounting for 1.6 million people. Once the subsidies expire, these enrollees would no longer qualify for the subsidies under the ACA.Also heavily impacted are people approaching retirement age. The age group with the highest enrollment in marketplace plans is ages 55 to 64, data shows.KFF estimated in March that about half the enrollees who would lose the tax credit upon expiration are between 50 and 64.Premiums for individuals closer to retirement age and making more than 400% of the federal poverty level would also increase more compared to younger enrollees. Take a 30-year-old, a 45-year-old, and a 60-year-old earning $62,756 in a single household – 401% of the poverty level.Without the tax credits, the 30-year-old would see a $110 jump in the monthly premium for a silver plan, according to KFF’s ACA Enhanced Premium Tax Credit calculator. The 60-year-old would see an $881-per-month increase without the enhanced subsidies.24 million people are enrolled in plans under the Affordable Care ActThe subsidies are utilized by about 92% of the 24 million people enrolled in marketplace plans under the ACA, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.These expanded credits allow households of different sizes and income levels to be capped with maximum out-of-pocket costs.From 2020 to 2025, enrollment more than doubled as a result of expanded tax credits in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, which increased the subsidies and lifted a cap that disqualified people making four times the poverty level or more from being eligible for the subsidies.Under 2025 guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the federal poverty level is $15,650 for a one-person household. At 400%, it’s $62,600.Six states have more than tripled in ACA enrollees since 2020There was a widespread increase in enrollment across states in the past five years.The six states that have more than tripled in enrollees since 2020 are Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. There were 14 states that more than doubled in enrollment. Just three places — including Washington, D.C. — declined in enrollment, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.Expired subsidies take effect Jan. 1Even though new insurance premiums would take effect in the new year, a retroactive extension could be passed in 2026.However, it would be complicated and would continue to grow more complicated over time, according to KFF. More enrollees may drop insurance in the meantime. In a KFF survey, a quarter of enrollees indicated they would go without health insurance if the cost of current coverage doubled. About a third said they’d look for a lower premium plan.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=

    WASHINGTON —

    The cost of health insurance is set to surge for millions of Americans under the Affordable Care Act at the start of the new year without the extension of expanded tax credits.

    The expanded subsidies were at the center of the 42-day government shutdown that ended in November. Now just days away from the new year, premiums are set to increase without an extension or resolution from Congress.

    The Get the Facts Data Team analyzed and aggregated statistics to know ahead of the rise in premiums in the new year.

    Premiums could rise on average 114%

    Premiums would more than double if the tax subsidies were to expire, according to an analysis from KFF.

    In addition to the potential ending of the subsidies, insurance rates are projected to rise across marketplace plans and employer-provided insurance.

    A one-person household with an annual income of $25,000 – a little more than 1.5 times the federal poverty level – is estimated to go from paying a maximum $100 out of pocket annually to $1,168.

    They would pay a maximum of less than $98 a month — 10 times more than the previous payment of less than $9 a month.

    The interactive below shows how the maximum out-of-pocket rates for benchmark plans may change if expanded subsidies expire for one, two and four-person households at various incomes. Estimates were calculated using maximum out-of-pocket rates from KFF published by the IRS, along with 2025 federal poverty level data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the 48 contiguous states plus D.C.

    The tool is not intended to calculate an individual’s actual payments. Healthcare.gov and other state marketplaces are the best source for specific premium costs.

    People closer to retirement age or with higher incomes could see the largest impact

    Once the expanded tax credits expire at the end of this year, the out-of-pocket maximums will increase across the board, and people making above four times the poverty level will become ineligible for any tax credits.

    More than 6.7% of those who were enrolled in ACA plans earned more than 400% of the federal poverty level, accounting for 1.6 million people. Once the subsidies expire, these enrollees would no longer qualify for the subsidies under the ACA.

    Also heavily impacted are people approaching retirement age. The age group with the highest enrollment in marketplace plans is ages 55 to 64, data shows.

    KFF estimated in March that about half the enrollees who would lose the tax credit upon expiration are between 50 and 64.

    Premiums for individuals closer to retirement age and making more than 400% of the federal poverty level would also increase more compared to younger enrollees. Take a 30-year-old, a 45-year-old, and a 60-year-old earning $62,756 in a single household – 401% of the poverty level.

    Without the tax credits, the 30-year-old would see a $110 jump in the monthly premium for a silver plan, according to KFF’s ACA Enhanced Premium Tax Credit calculator.

    The 60-year-old would see an $881-per-month increase without the enhanced subsidies.

    24 million people are enrolled in plans under the Affordable Care Act

    The subsidies are utilized by about 92% of the 24 million people enrolled in marketplace plans under the ACA, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

    These expanded credits allow households of different sizes and income levels to be capped with maximum out-of-pocket costs.

    From 2020 to 2025, enrollment more than doubled as a result of expanded tax credits in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, which increased the subsidies and lifted a cap that disqualified people making four times the poverty level or more from being eligible for the subsidies.

    Under 2025 guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the federal poverty level is $15,650 for a one-person household. At 400%, it’s $62,600.

    Six states have more than tripled in ACA enrollees since 2020

    There was a widespread increase in enrollment across states in the past five years.

    The six states that have more than tripled in enrollees since 2020 are Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. There were 14 states that more than doubled in enrollment.

    Just three places — including Washington, D.C. — declined in enrollment, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

    Expired subsidies take effect Jan. 1

    Even though new insurance premiums would take effect in the new year, a retroactive extension could be passed in 2026.

    However, it would be complicated and would continue to grow more complicated over time, according to KFF.

    More enrollees may drop insurance in the meantime. In a KFF survey, a quarter of enrollees indicated they would go without health insurance if the cost of current coverage doubled. About a third said they’d look for a lower premium plan.

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  • Texas Declares Measles Outbreak Over – KXL

    (Associated Press) – Health officials in Texas have declared the state’s measles outbreak over.

    The virus sickened 762 people since late January.

    Nearly 100 were hospitalized and two children died.

    State health data shows that the last outbreak-related measles case in Texas was on July 1.

    The cases were linked to outbreaks in Canada and Mexico and jumped to other states in the U.S. Measles is prevented by vaccine.

    State officials say they will keep monitoring for new cases.

    They credit testing, vaccination, monitoring and education with helping to end the outbreak.

    More about:

    Grant McHill

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  • Deloitte Canada predicts more economic growth, benchmark rate below 3% in 2025 – MoneySense

    Deloitte Canada predicts more economic growth, benchmark rate below 3% in 2025 – MoneySense

    In the company’s fall economic outlook released Thursday, it forecasts the central bank’s interest rate will fall to 3.75% by the end of this year and a neutral rate of 2.75% by mid next year. 

    Meanwhile, it expects the economy to grow moderately as softer labour market conditions persist, especially as many home owners have yet to face higher rates when they refinance their loans.  

    “We do think that we’re going to be in for a decent year next year,” said Dawn Desjardins, chief economist at Deloitte Canada. 

    It appears Canada will successfully skirt a recession despite the impact of higher borrowing costs on the economy, said Desjardins. 

    “It’s hard to argue that the economy is just skating through this period of higher interest rates. But having said that, the overall numbers themselves continue to show the economy is expanding,” she said. 

    “Yes, the labour market has softened, but I don’t think we’re in any kind of crisis in the labour market at this time.”

    Higher interest rates impacting economic growth, labour market

    The Bank of Canada has cut its benchmark rate three times so far this year as inflation has eased, and signalled more cuts are coming. 

    Inflation in Canada hit the central bank’s 2% target in August, falling from 2.5 in July to reach its lowest level since February 2021. 

    The Canadian Press

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  • Variable mortgage rates regaining traction as Bank of Canada cuts rates – MoneySense

    Variable mortgage rates regaining traction as Bank of Canada cuts rates – MoneySense

    Are more rate cuts likely?

    In announcing the rate cut Wednesday, Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said if inflation continues to ease broadly in line with the bank’s July forecast, it is reasonable to expect further cuts in the policy rate. 

    Julie Leduc, a mortgage broker at Mortgage Brokers Ottawa, said clients with variable-rate loans were not happy when rates were rising, but the cycle is turning. 

    “We’ve lived the worst of it, we’re on our way out,” she said. 

    “So let’s look for the benefits and the benefit is, if they go variable and the rates go down, they’re going to live the benefit.”

    Right now, the rates offered to those looking for a new variable-rate mortgage or needing to renew are higher than those being offered for five-year fixed rate mortgages, something that Leduc called an anomaly.

    That’s because the expectations are that the Bank of Canada will continue to cut interest rates, lowering the amount charged to borrowers in the future. If something unexpected happens and the central bank doesn’t cut rates, then the rates charged on variable-rate mortgages won’t go down.

    What to expect if you’re mortgage holder

    But if things continue to roll out as expected, those choosing variable-rate loans will see the amount they are charged go down. Just how much and how quickly will depend on the central bank.

    Sojonky says the discounts lenders offer to the prime rate for variable-rate mortgages are also improving. 

    The Canadian Press

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  • Is it a good time to buy a new car? – MoneySense

    Is it a good time to buy a new car? – MoneySense

    Sticker prices at dealerships have started to come down and affordability is improving, said Daniel Ross, senior manager of industry insights with Canadian Black Book.

    “The new car market is normalizing faster than the used car market,” he said. “You have the inventory, you have the incentives depending on where you’re shopping and if you were a new car shopper from the beginning, it’s the best situation you’ve had in a long time.”

    Inventory of new cars has built up across the country as prices for newer models climbed and consumers pulled back on big purchases amid high inflation and rising interest rates. Now, manufacturers and dealerships have launched incentives and rebates as they look to clear that supply.

    On new cars, dealerships can offer internal financing from manufacturers and control the rates independently from bank rates, said Sam Fiorani, vice-president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions.

    “Instead of offering rebates, they lower interest rates which make deals better for the consumer.”

    How availability impacts car loan interest rates

    Homeowners are watching the Bank of Canada’s every move as they hope for lower borrowing rates, but a vehicle purchase works somewhat differently, said Shari Prymak, a senior consultant at non-profit Car Help Canada. When financing through a dealership, the interest rate depends on the given make or model.

    “The rates that the manufacturer sets are mainly tied to the vehicle availability,” he said.

    “If the vehicles have a very good supply, they’ll incentivize the interest rates and bring down the rates,” Prymak said. “But if the vehicle doesn’t have any supply, if it has a long waiting period, because it’s in short supply, the rates won’t be incentivized.”

    The Canadian Press

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  • Duke Energy Florida to Reduce Rates for Second Time This Year

    Duke Energy Florida to Reduce Rates for Second Time This Year

    For the second time this year, a typical Duke Energy Florida customer will see lower electric bills, this time because of a rate reduction the company is proposing to begin in June to reflect anticipated lower fuel prices.

    The company filed a fuel midcourse rate request with the Florida Public Service Commission to account for lower projections for natural gas costs.

    Under the proposal, a typical Florida residential customer with a monthly usage of 1,000 kWh would see their bill decline by $5.90, or almost 4%. The savings would be on top of a $11.29 decrease, or about 6%, a decrease that typical residential bills began showing in January.

    Similarly, typical commercial and industrial customers will see a bill decrease between 3.5% and 7.0%, varying based on factors, such as industry type and differences in customer use patterns.

    “With fuel prices expected to decline, we have an opportunity to lower rates for a second time this year for our customers, just as we prepare for the higher energy usage that come with summer months,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “We remain committed to providing the best possible price for Florida’s growing population, while delivering the reliable power and customer service our customers deserve today, tomorrow and for many years to come.”

    Duke Energy Florida ensures customers receive the best service to their homes, businesses and communities through expertly managing its fuel resources, and its complex systems of power generation, transformers, wires and poles across 13,000 square miles – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, under the most challenging conditions.

    The company also offers several easy-to-use energy efficiency programs and tools to help Florida customers have more control over their energy use and bills.

    Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 12,300 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 2 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.

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  • Marriage rates are up, and divorce rates are down, new data shows

    Marriage rates are up, and divorce rates are down, new data shows

    Marriage rates are up, and divorce rates are down, new data shows

    After COVID-19 lockdowns, 2022 was a year of marriages, according to new data.The number of marriages took a dive around the start of the pandemic, numbers show. For the past two decades, the number of marriages stayed around 7 to 8 per 1,000 people a year, according to new data released xxxx by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.But in 2020, the marriage rate was down to 5.1 per 1,000 people, the data showed. The rate started to climb the next year, and by 2022, the number of marriages had reached 6.2 per capita and over 2 million in a year, according to the report.Growth in marriage rates may be due to more than just rescheduling, said Marissa Nelson, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Washington, D.C.Being in lockdown together gave many couples a unique hurdle to overcome, one that made them get intentional about how they approached important things like finances, compromise and autonomy. Many people walked out of that experience with a better sense of what they need in a life partner, Nelson said.Divorce rates are going downIntentionality may also be behind declining divorce rates, she added.In 2022, the divorce rate was 2.4 per 1,000 people. Although that isn’t the lowest it has ever been – in 2021, it was 2.3 – it continues a downward trend, according to the data.By comparison, the rate of divorces in 2000 was 4 per 1,000, which means the current rate is a big decline from two decades earlier.Being stuck in a home together during lockdown forced a lot of couples to face problems in their relationship head-on, Nelson said. That might have caused additional strife, or it could have helped them lay better groundwork for a stable future, she added.Changes over the past two decades may also have helped. Therapy has become more normalized, roles in marriages have become more flexible, and people are more used to talking openly about how they want their marriages to work, Nelson said.Changing how we pick our partnersAnother big change recently has been the way people enter marriages, said Ian Kerner, a licensed marriage and family therapist and CNN contributor.”In my practice over the last decade, I’ve noticed a gradual shift from the ‘romantic marriage’ to the ‘companionate marriage,’ meaning that people are increasingly choosing spouses at the outset who are more like best friends than passion-partners,” Kerner said via email.Doing so may lead to problems with attraction, but it also means those people are choosing partners based on qualities likely to promote long-term stability and satisfaction, he said in a previous CNN article.”At its bare minimum, the concept of commitment implies the experience of being bonded with another. At its very best, it means being bonded with someone who is a consistent safe and secure home base that will be there for you in the face of any adversities,” said Dr. Monica O’Neal, a Boston psychologist, in a recent CNN article.

    CNN —

    After COVID-19 lockdowns, 2022 was a year of marriages, according to new data.

    The number of marriages took a dive around the start of the pandemic, numbers show. For the past two decades, the number of marriages stayed around 7 to 8 per 1,000 people a year, according to new data released xxxx by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s National Center for Health Statistics.

    But in 2020, the marriage rate was down to 5.1 per 1,000 people, the data showed. The rate started to climb the next year, and by 2022, the number of marriages had reached 6.2 per capita and over 2 million in a year, according to the report.

    Growth in marriage rates may be due to more than just rescheduling, said Marissa Nelson, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Washington, D.C.

    Being in lockdown together gave many couples a unique hurdle to overcome, one that made them get intentional about how they approached important things like finances, compromise and autonomy. Many people walked out of that experience with a better sense of what they need in a life partner, Nelson said.

    Divorce rates are going down

    Intentionality may also be behind declining divorce rates, she added.

    In 2022, the divorce rate was 2.4 per 1,000 people. Although that isn’t the lowest it has ever been – in 2021, it was 2.3 – it continues a downward trend, according to the data.

    By comparison, the rate of divorces in 2000 was 4 per 1,000, which means the current rate is a big decline from two decades earlier.

    Being stuck in a home together during lockdown forced a lot of couples to face problems in their relationship head-on, Nelson said. That might have caused additional strife, or it could have helped them lay better groundwork for a stable future, she added.

    Changes over the past two decades may also have helped. Therapy has become more normalized, roles in marriages have become more flexible, and people are more used to talking openly about how they want their marriages to work, Nelson said.

    Changing how we pick our partners

    Another big change recently has been the way people enter marriages, said Ian Kerner, a licensed marriage and family therapist and CNN contributor.

    “In my practice over the last decade, I’ve noticed a gradual shift from the ‘romantic marriage’ to the ‘companionate marriage,’ meaning that people are increasingly choosing spouses at the outset who are more like best friends than passion-partners,” Kerner said via email.

    Doing so may lead to problems with attraction, but it also means those people are choosing partners based on qualities likely to promote long-term stability and satisfaction, he said in a previous CNN article.

    “At its bare minimum, the concept of commitment implies the experience of being bonded with another. At its very best, it means being bonded with someone who is a consistent safe and secure home base that will be there for you in the face of any adversities,” said Dr. Monica O’Neal, a Boston psychologist, in a recent CNN article.

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  • Another California PG&E rate increase approved despite public outcry

    Another California PG&E rate increase approved despite public outcry

    (FOX40.COM) — The California Public Utilities Commission approved another hike in Pacific Gas & Electric rates that will go into effect in April 2024.

    The decision was made at Thursday’s California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) meeting despite several customers who vehemently spoke out against it. The added expense follows a 13% rate increase (almost $35 a month) that happened on Jan. 1, 2024.

    “The costs were not included in prior rates proceedings,” said Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) spokesperson, Mika Gazda. “We have requested to recover these costs over multiple years to limit the impact on customers.”

    According to PG&E, its 16 million customers can expect to see an additional $3.65 on their bills. As Pacific Gas & Electric continues to charge their customers more, many of them are fed up.

    “I feel like they’re greedy and I want it to stop,” said a PG&E customer who was in attendance at Thursday’s vote meeting.

    PG&E’s last earnings report showed that the company profited $2.4B in 2023 which is a 25% increase from 2022. Although it has more revenue, they said it had nothing to do with the rate increases and that 99% of the money is going toward its infrastructure. The leftover 1% went to stakeholders, according to PG&E.

    “Take the rate increase out of the profits and not out of our meager wages,” another PG&E customer said at the meeting.

    Several cries to halt the hikes rang out at the vote meeting, however, the CPUC voted in favor of more expensive PG&E bills.

    “The commission is falling for PG&E’s continued claims of crying poor -of saying they’re in a financial squeeze,” said Mark Toney, a member of the Utilities Reform Network.

    He added that PG&E customers need to prepare themselves because this won’t be the last increase in rates.

    In January 2024, PG&E requested an additional $14 a month for costs associated with wildfire prevention in California. The CPUC is expected to take up a vote on that soon.

    “PG&E is asking for a $14 a month increase and several others on top of this,” Toney said. “We’ve got to fix this broken system.”

    Veronica Catlin

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  • A new issue in divorce: Who keeps the mortgage rate?

    A new issue in divorce: Who keeps the mortgage rate?

    When Ann Shea, 44, was finalizing a divorce last year, she knew she wanted to keep the suburban Chicago home where she was raising her school-age kids. But it was equally important for her to hold onto her relatively low mortgage rate.

    She had purchased the home in the summer of 2012, and had refinanced to a rate of 2.8% during the pandemic. She wanted to keep the house to provide stability for her kids, who were still young and attending school nearby.

    But to get the mortgage and the title of the home in her name only would have required refinancing, which would have bumped up her mortgage rate to the 6% range, where rates were averaging in mid-April when her divorce was finalized. A back-of-the-envelope math estimate would suggest that her monthly mortgage payment could have ballooned by 33%.

    “The divorce was so expensive, and to think about adding on that cost would have been terrible,” Shea, a compliance attorney, told MarketWatch. 

    Moving to such a comparatively high mortgage rate after 11 years of paying off the 2.8% loan would have felt to Shea like she had “lost all that ground,” she added. 

    Shea’s plight is becoming more common. As mortgage rates soared from historic lows during the pandemic to two-decade highs at the end of 2023, homeowners with rates under 3% became the envy of their friends and family. But when a marriage splits up, the question of who walks away with the lower mortgage rate sparks far more than casual jealousy.

    It’s increasingly a source of tension at the divorce negotiating table, Alla Roytberg, a New York City-based family and matrimonial law attorney and a mediator, told MarketWatch.

    “In the past, when rates were low, it was an easy answer, because somebody could refinance and get a 3.5% rate,” Royberg, who has been in matrimonial law for the last three decades, said. “And now, they have this 3% rate, and if they refinance, they’re going to get 7% or 6% — and that makes it unaffordable.”

    Unconventional solutions to who keeps the low mortgage rate

    Historically, a couple who is going through a divorce will either work out an arrangement to refinance the home and put it in one spouse’s name, or if the divorce is acrimonious, they can be forced by a court to sell the home and divide the proceeds, Erin Levine, co-founder of Hello Divorce, a company based in Alameda, Calif., that sells online divorce services, told MarketWatch.

    Levine is a family law attorney licensed in California, and has helped more than 5,000 individuals through the legal process of divorce. Hello Divorce recently beefed up its real-estate arm, because it’s seen a surge in interest in home-owning couples interested in divorce.

    Those traditional methods are still an option separating partners pursue today. But the large gap between prevailing mortgage rates and the rates on divorcing couples’ homes, coupled with a more expensive housing market, has prompted some to turn to unconventional strategies to divide real-estate assets. They can include deciding to co-own a property together or  agreeing to stay in the same house for a certain number of years.

    “People are trying to figure out ways to work things out of court,” Levine said.

    The financial motivation is strong, too. “We have to come up with creative options over how to handle those kinds of cases,” added Roytberg. “Some of them are barely able to find the budget that they were living with. How do you add another three, four thousand dollars in rent, when the money isn’t there?”

    Some couples are finding innovative solutions — from sale leasebacks to mortgage assumptions — to hang on to their prized ultra-low rate. Others are resorting to less sustainable stopgap measures.

    Here are some of the scenarios couples are turning to:

    Stalling until the market improves

    One strategy is to “buy time,” Levine said.

    In this scenario, the couple finalizes their divorce, but continues to co-own the home while waiting for rates to fall. Either they stay together in the house, or one spouse moves out, but they both continue to own the home together to avoid refinancing. 

    About a tenth of the divorcees on Levine’s platform are saying, “‘I really want to stay in the house, I can’t afford these mortgage rates, and I don’t know what the market’s gonna look like, so give me two years,’” Levine said. “And with you staying on the mortgage, in exchange, I’ll pay you some money.”

    Some arrangements include a higher-earning spouse paying the mortgage in place of spousal support, and then deducting it from their taxes, Roytberg explained. “It helps both sides,” she said, “because they don’t need to refinance at a higher rate for the other, and [the higher-income spouse] could directly pay the mortgage instead of spousal support.” 

    Continue living together while you ‘wait and see’

    The so-called lock-in effect — which refers to high mortgage rates forcing homeowners to stay put in homes with lower rates — has most homeowners frozen in place for the time being. Few are willing to give up their home and their low mortgage rate and move to a house that costs more, and requires a mortgage with significantly higher borrowing costs. That’s also led to a squeeze on resale inventory, which is hurting aspiring homeowners.

    But with rates staying below 7% since mid-December, there are some early signs that the housing market is coming back to life. 

    “Buyers and sellers are learning to live with uncertainty,” Shay Stein, a Las Vegas-based real-estate agent with Redfin
    RDFN,
    +6.23%    ,
    said in a recent report. “They’ve realized no one has a crystal ball that can predict exactly when mortgage rates will fall back to 5%, so they’re making moves now,” she added, “because they can only wait so long to be near their grandkids, live in an RV like they’ve always dreamt of, or finalize their divorce.”

    But some divorcees are not as keen, opting to wait and see.

    “I had one [divorcee] that had decided that he was just gonna live in the basement, so good luck with that,” Jae Tolliver, an Ohio-based mortgage broker with Union Home Mortgage, told MarketWatch, referring to someone who wanted to continue to live in their existing house, even though they had split from their spouse. “People are definitely trying to get more creative.”

    Tolliver recently quipped on social media that couples are staying together not for the kids’ sake these days, but rather for their low mortgage rate.

    He also described another client who decided to stay in the house with their ex-spouse after the divorce, and continue to pay the mortgage payments like before just to keep the low rate. 

    But “it wasn’t working out so great,” Tolliver said. “Because at the end of the day, you have a divorced couple that’s living under the same roof, and that just isn’t going to work.” 

    Co-owning the home until a milestone is reached 

    Some splitting couples decide to continue to own their home together until a certain milestone, such as their youngest child graduating from high school.

    “It’s almost always tied to kids,” Levine said, because couples often want to provide stability. For example, a child who is involved in a very competitive sport may require more consistency in their schedule, so the parents may opt to stay put until the child gets to college.

    Sale leasebacks

    Some couples are turning to sale lease-backs, a strategy which Levine says is something she hadn’t encountered recently.

    Similar to the concept of buying time, a sale leaseback between a splitting couple can mean an arrangement where one individual sells the home to the other, and then rents it back from them with the option to repurchase their share later.

    “Some of our customers like it, because in divorce, a lot of people’s credit is screwed, as they’ve been separated for a while and in different households, so they haven’t been paying bills,” Levine said. Those financial setbacks could make it difficult to rent or buy a place on their own.

    By selling their share to their ex and leasing it back, they can secure a place to live without having to worry about the debt-to-income requirements, or their low credit score, which can be obstacles to finding housing, she added.

    Biting the bullet

    Other divorcing couples, anticipating the struggles ahead should they fight to keep their low rate, have decided to bite the bullet and refinance. 

    Take one recent divorcee’s case in San Mateo, Calif. 

    After a mother of two split with her husband in December 2021, they had gone through the process of formalizing their divorce. That meant that she would have to give up the 3.25% mortgage rate that she got in 2020.

    She spoke on the condition of anonymity because she did not want her story to affect her child support payments. 

    “I had to refinance while rates were insanely high,” the homeowner told MarketWatch. 

    She refinanced in October 2023 to get her ex-husband off the mortgage and the title of the home, as well as to buy him out of his equity in the home. She ended up with a 30-year mortgage rate of 8.25%.

    “I have an awful rate right now, I mean, it’s ridiculous. My mortgage has more than doubled,” she added. Her monthly payment went from $1,450 to $2,975. 

    She considered the possibility of selling the home and using her share of the proceeds to buy another one, or even renting a cheaper home. 

    But both options were unappealing because she would still be stuck with a higher rate, and would lose her home, which she has lived in since December 2013. She hopes to refinance in the future when rates fall. 

    “I’m just looking at it as if it’s temporary,” she added. She also got a raise recently which could help offset some of those expenses.

    Shea’s solution: Assuming the mortgage

    Shea, the suburban Chicago divorcee who didn’t want to give up her 2.8% rate, managed to land a mortgage assumption, meaning that she essentially took over the existing mortgage that had been in both her and her husband’s name, at the same rate.

    Assumable mortgages have become an incentive offered by some sellers, but they are rare and only available in certain circumstances.

    Shea worked with Tami Wollensak, a mortgage broker who is also a Certified Divorce Lending Professional with specialized training on divorce-related real-estate transactions. 

    It was Wollensak who recommended that Shea ask her lender if she could assume the loan in her own name. She guided Shea on how to ask for the right department and how to request an assumption, rather than a regular refinance.

    “It’s very unusual,” Wollensak, who is also based in Chicago, told MarketWatch. “Every lender looks at it differently.” 

    Fannie Mae
    FNMA,
    +23.63%
    guidelines give lenders some discretion to grant assumptions to people who are going through life transitions. But borrowers have to qualify for the mortgage and must be able to afford it on their own. The timing of the divorce must also allow for the assumption process to complete.

    When Shea first asked her lender, Iowa-based Green State Credit Union, about an assumption, she was turned away. But the duo kept digging and asking for different people to talk to. 

    The lender eventually allowed Shea to assume the mortgage at 2.8%, and have only her name appear on it. Wollensak says the lender may have allowed Shea to take over the payment alone without her spouse based on her strong credit profile. Green State Credit Union did not respond to a request for comment.

    “It depends from servicer to servicer. It’s very much like the Wild, Wild West,” Wollensak said. Shea did not pay any expenses associated with the assumption of the loan, such as closing costs or other fees.

    “It was a lot of back and forth trying to find the right person,” Shea said. “I’m so grateful.”

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  • New-home sales drop in October to much lower level than expected

    New-home sales drop in October to much lower level than expected

    The numbers: U.S. new-home sales fell 5.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 679,000 in October, from a revised 719,000 in September, the government reported Monday. 

    Analysts polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast new-home sales to occur at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 725,000 in October.

    The data are often revised sharply….

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  • Health of several key sectors, including the U.S. consumer, plus an outlook from Fed’s Powell on radar this coming week

    Health of several key sectors, including the U.S. consumer, plus an outlook from Fed’s Powell on radar this coming week

    Recession fears are rising. Nothing beats fear better than good information and that’s what we will get this week. Investors and economists will get good insight into the mood of U.S. consumers and hear the last words of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell ahead of the central bank’s next interest-rate meeting on Dec. 12-13.

    November consumer confidence

    Tuesday, 10:00 a.m. Eastern

    Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expect that consumer’s view on the outlook have soured over the past few weeks. Geopolitical…

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  • U.S. economy growing only at a subdued rate in early November, S&P Global says

    U.S. economy growing only at a subdued rate in early November, S&P Global says

    The numbers: The U.S. economy expanded but at a relatively subdued pace in early November, latest data from S&P Global show.

    The S&P Global “flash” U.S. services index rose to 50.8 in November from 50.6 in the prior month, the highest level in four months. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a reading of 50.2.

    On the…

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  • Stocks post back-to-back loss after Fed minutes point to lingering inflation and rate risks

    Stocks post back-to-back loss after Fed minutes point to lingering inflation and rate risks

    U.S. stocks posted back-to-back losses Wednesday after Federal Reserve minutes of its July meetings showed concerns about inflation revving back up. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA fell about 180 points, or 0.5%, ending near 34,765, according to preliminary FactSet data. The S&P 500 index SPX gave up 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP closed 1.2% lower. All three benchmarks booked back-to-back loses, while the S&P 500 ending at its lowest level in more than a month. Minutes of the Fed’s July 25-26 meeting said “most participants continue to see significant upside risks to inflation, which could require further…

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  • Former Fed official Clarida backs another interest-rate hike this year

    Former Fed official Clarida backs another interest-rate hike this year

    Former Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida on Thursday said he thinks another interest-rate hike this year would be a wise move by the U.S. central bank.

    In an interview on Bloomberg, Clarida said the biggest risk for the Fed is to declare “mission accomplished” too early and having to restart rate hikes next year.

    “So if I were there, it would skew me to getting in that additional hike this year, and I think some members of the Fed will see it that way,” Clarida said.

    Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the Fed will decide what to do about interest rates on a “meeting-by-meeting” basis.

    Read: Fed no longer foresees a U.S. recession, highlights from Powell presser

    The Fed is forecasting that the unemployment rate will rise to 4.5% by the end of 2024 from 3.6% in June.

    That is still a forecast for recession because under the Sahm rule, created by former top Fed staffer Claudia Sahm, the start of a recession is signaled when the three-month moving average on the unemployment rate rises by 0.5 percentage points or more from its low during the past year.

    But Clarida said the Fed faces an alternative scenario where inflation picks up again early next year after slowing later this year.

    “If the Fed finds itself in March of 2024 with an unemployment rate of 4% and and inflation rate of 4% with some of that temporary good news [on inflation] behind them, they’re in a very tough spot,” he said.

    “I do think that’s a risk. It’s not the base case,” he said.

    The Dow Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    -0.61%
    was trading slightly lower on Thursday after 13 straight sessions in the green.

    The yield on the 10-year Treasury yield
    TMUBMUSD10Y,
    4.016%
    has risen to 3.97%, the highest level in two weeks.

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  • Bank turmoil led Fed officials to forecast fewer rate hikes | Long Island Business News

    Bank turmoil led Fed officials to forecast fewer rate hikes | Long Island Business News

    Turmoil in the banking system after two major banks collapsed led many Federal Reserve officials to envision fewer rate increases this year out of concern that banks will reduce their lending and weaken the economy.

    The heightened uncertainty surrounding the banking sector also helped Fed officials coalesce around their decision to raise their benchmark rate by just a quarter-point, rather than a half-point, despite signs that inflation was still too hot, according to minutes of the Fed’s March 22-23 meeting.

    The Fed also revealed Wednesday that its staff economists have forecast that a pullback in lending resulting from the banking turmoil will cause a “mild recession” starting later this year. The minutes noted that this forecast depends on how severe the consequences of the industry’s troubles prove to be and to what extent it will cause a cutback in lending.

    Overall, the minutes showed that the banking troubles injected significant uncertainty into the Fed’s decision and reversed an emerging trend to keep raising rates aggressively to quell inflation. At their meeting last month, Fed officials projected that they will raise their key short-term rate — which affects many consumer and business loans — just once more this year, at their May meeting.

    Before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, many officials said they had expected to forecast more than just one additional hike this year because economic and inflation data showed that the Fed still had more to do to control the pace of price increases. Instead, Fed officials agreed that the collapse of the two large banks “would likely lead to some weakening of credit conditions,” as banks sought to preserve capital by curtailing lending to consumers and businesses.

    Several officials said they had considered supporting leaving rates unchanged at last month’s meeting. But they added that actions by the Fed, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. had “helped calm conditions” in banking and reduced the risks to the economy in the short run.

    Some other officials said they had favored a half-point hike last month because hiring, consumer spending, and inflation data still pointed to a hot economy. But given the uncertainty resulting from the banking troubles, they “judged it prudent” to implement a smaller quarter-point increase.

    d

    The Associated Press

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  • Fed officials at March meeting were keenly worried about impact of bank stress on economy

    Fed officials at March meeting were keenly worried about impact of bank stress on economy

    Federal Reserve officials, meeting days after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, agreed that the stress in the banking sector would slow U.S. economic growth, but were uncertain about how much, according to minutes of the meeting released Wednesday.

    The twelve voting members on the Fed’s interest-rate committee “agree that recent developments were likely to result in tighter credit conditions for households and businesses and to weigh on economic activity, hiring and inflation, but that the extend of these effects were…

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